Black Dirt Region

Pine Island, New York

The 22-square-mile Black Dirt Region, which is located in southern Orange County, gets its name from its deep layer of fertile black soil and is the largest such region in the United States outside of the Everglades. It’s home to hundreds of farms and is particularly known for its onion farms and sod/turf farms. The meeting spot for Black Dirt field trips is the parking lot of what was formerly The Jolly Onion restaurant in Pine Island (orange marker on the map).

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According to Orange County Tourism, more mastodons have been unearthed in the Black Dirt than anywhere else in the world, but the region is also home to a large variety of non-extinct wildlife, including resident and migrating birds. eBird lists numerous hotspots in the area, some of which are accessed by unpaved roads that meander around among the farms. If you could pick only one place to go with guidance from experienced Mearns Club birders, this should be it!

In the Black Dirt Region, you can find Horned Larks, Snow Buntings, sandpipers (Buff-breasted and Upland), plovers, Lapland Longspurs, American Pipits, sparrows (White-crowned, American Tree), geese (including Snow Geese and various uncommon geese in the winter), Short-Eared Owls, and even the occasional Snowy Owl.

Horned Lark. Photo by Alan Wells.

Cooper’s Hawk, Skinner’s Lane. Photo by Dave Baker.

Northern Harrier, Skinner’s Lane. Photo by Dave Baker.

Snowy Owl. Photo by Alan Wells.

Killdeer. Photo by Alan Wells.

Snow Geese. Photo by Karen Miller.

Merlin. Photo by Dave Baker.

Grasshopper Sparrow. Photo by Bill Fiero.

Header image by Alan Wells. All photographs are copyrighted by the photographers who made them. Please do not use the photographs without permission.